TRANSLATE AND PROMOTE

SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS

To Get the Attention

of Your Audience MARCH 23, 2015 PRESENTED BY: JENNIFER SEYLER, MS, RD, CPT FLEISHMANHILLARD, VICE PRESIDENT @JSEYLER WWW.FITNESSANDNUTRITIONCONVERSATIONS.COM

TO TRANSLATE...

1. Need to know who your audience is

2. What your audience understands

Appropriate Messaging

TO PROMOTE...

3. Need to know where your audience

‘lives’

4. When your audience is most receptive

to what you have to say

5. Why they want to hear what you have

to say

Message Delivery Platforms

WHAT YOU WILL SEE..

• Media Landscape

• Importance of Science Communications

• Message Mechanics

• Target Audiences & Behaviors

• Building Relationships with Reporters

MEDIA LANDSCAPE

Sports Medicine and Fitness

GETTING NEWS

Then Now

TODAY’S WORLD...

Anyone with a smartphone is a

news reporter

...BUT...

Not everyone is an expert

SCIENCE

COMMUNICATIONS

Importance of

US CONSUMER TRUST

TRUST FACTOR

• You are a knowledgeable source of

information

• You can translate the information so it

is meaningful to multiple audiences

– Opportunity to help clear confusion

– Help solve the audiences problem

• You give a “face” to the story

You are the EXPERT

TRUST ABUSE

54% of information not backed by science

research or contradicted

BMJ 2014;349:g7346

MECHANICS

Message

MESSAGES ALLOW YOU TO...

• Communicate so those outside your

profession can understand

• Make it easy for you to “tell your story”

• Ensure consistency

• Make it easy for others to remember it

– The thoughts you most want your audience

to remember — and repeat

“… if you remember only one thing, remember this, ________________”

STRUCTURE

• Message points (1-4) =

primary messages + proof points

Headline

Support

Support

DEVELOPMENT

• Aim for sound bites

– Alex Chadwick, NPR Morning Edition reporter,

defines sound bites as “what you remember”

• Think “I have a dream”

– 15 to 20 words

• Approximately 7 seconds (TV news sound bite)

• 140 characters (social media post)

– Use techniques such as alliteration,

enumeration, parallelism,

and analogies to make your messages

memorable, conversational and quotable

DEVELOPMENT

• Write in terms of the listener’s self-interest

– Listeners constantly ask “so what?”

– Ask yourself: • What does your audience know about your

topic?

• Why do they want to know more?

• What questions might they have?

This is why it is important to be able to identify and understand your audience

EXAMPLE: SPORTS INJURY

• There is a growing epidemic of preventable youth sports injuries that are dismantling kids’ athletic hopes and dreams at an early age.

– According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), high school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations every year.

• Armed with the correct information and tools, today’s young athletes can remain healthy, play safe and stay in the game for life.

– Playing safe includes not play through the pain if you are injured and taking the proper preventive steps to reduce your risk of injury.

WHEN DELIVERING...

1. Explain the big picture and why the audience

should care

2. Jump into headline messages

3. Tell them what you’re going to tell them

4. Follow up with the detail (proof points)

5. Tell them what you told them (recap primary

message)

But never give them anything you don’t want

them to use

THE BASICS

• Avoid jargon and generalities; be simple,

specific, and “real”

• Speak in terms your audience can relate

• Use examples, stories to support and

personalize your messages

ENSURING MESSAGE

DELIVERY

• Blocking and Bridging: Phrases that

move a conversation from an off-agenda

topic (unproductive, hostile, irrelevant,

etc.) to an on-agenda subject

“Because of the success of the show…”

BLOCKING & BRIDGING

R=A+MP

Response = Actual Answer + Message

Point

SAMPLES

• “I think what you’re really asking is…”

• “Let me clarify. What we’re really talking

about here is…”

• “That speaks to a bigger point, which

is…”

• “That demonstrates how complex this

issue is, but what it all comes down to is

this…”

SAMPLES

• “You’d have to ask them. But for us,

what I can tell you is…”

• “Those things are true, but I think the

real news here is…”

• “I’m not the right person to talk to about

those issues, but what I can address

is…”

NEVER SAY...

“NO COMMENT”

• The only acceptable way to refuse to

answer a question is to “block” without

“bridging”

– Block by explaining why you can’t answer

the question

• Results pending, proprietary information,

pending litigation, etc.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

• Speak to the media’s audience

• Use messages consistently and often

• Make them your own

– Internalize the concepts, don’t just memorize the words

• Constantly review and update your messages

– Ideally, the support points change, not the primary messages

• Prepare and practice, practice, practice

– Even a little bit makes a big difference

MESSAGES AREN’T JUST

FOR THE MEDIA

• They work in all forms of communication:

– Presentations, papers, one-on-one interactions with members of the scientific community Business discussions (internal and external)

– Your flight here, the elevator ride, the cocktail party

– Your social media channels

TARGET AUDIENCE

Understanding

DEFINE

• Gender

• Parent

• Race

• Athlete

• Health Professional

• Policy Maker

• Scientist

WHERE & WHEN DO THEY

CONSUME INFORMATION

• Facebook

• Twitter

• TV

• Radio

• Newspapers

• Online

EFFECTIVE MESSAGING

The right message,

the right place,

the right time

REPORTER

RELATIONSHIPS

Building

UNDERSTAND ROLES

It’s a transaction, not a conversation

Reporter’s Job

• Find and share news that will keep people engaged

• Controversy and conflict

• New, unique and unusual

• Useful, on trend, local

Your Job

• Give people something to remember and repeat

• Know where you want to go, even if the reporter doesn’t

• Don’t think of the media as friends or enemies

CONNECT

1. Company/University media relations team

2. Other experienced scientists

3. Call outlets

4. Be proactive

a. Social media presence

b. Comment on relevant sites

c. Attend scientific conferences

d. Follow journalists

e. Submit Letters to the Editors

PREPARE

• If they contact you

– Never leap in; ask questions

• What’s your deadline?

• What’s the story you’re pursuing?

• Who else are you talking with?

– If it’s a good opportunity, buy a little time

• Prepare and practice

• Call them back or meet them when you said

you would

34

REMEMBER...

• There’s no such thing as “off the record”

– If you don’t know, don’t speculate

• The questions are up to them, but the

answers are up to you

– Say what you want to say, then STOP!

– Never repeat a negative

THANK YOU!

Jennifer.Seyler@fleishman.com

@jseyler

www.fitnessandnutritionconversations.com